What is VBScript?

VBScript is a Microsoft browser technology that requires Microsoft's Internet Explorer! In this VBScript example you will learn how to write VBScript, and how to insert these scripts into your HTML documents to make your Web pages more dynamic and interactive. VBScript is a scripting language, and if you remember a scripting language is a lightweight programming language that is interpreted, and therefore not compiled like an application. VBScript is really a light version of Visual Basic, which is Microsoft's graphical programming language.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

     

 

 

 

How Does it Work?

When a VBScript is inserted into a HTML document, the Internet browser will read the HTML and interpret the VBScript. The VBScript can be executed immediately, or at a later event.

VBScript Code in an HTML Document

<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/vbscript">
document.write("Go Bulldogs!")
</script>
</body>
</html>

And it produces this output:
Go Bulldogs!

To insert a script in an HTML document, use the <script> tag. Use the type attribute to define the scripting language. 
<script type="text/vbscript">

Then comes the VBScript: The command for writing some text on a page is document.write:  
document.write("Go Bulldogs!")

The script ends: 
</script>

Hiding from old browsers

Older browsers that do not support scripts will display the script as page content. To prevent them from doing this, you can use the HTML comment tag:
  
<script type="text/vbscript">
<!--
  some statements
-->
</script>

 

Where to Put the VBScript

Scripts in a page will be executed immediately while the page loads into the browser. This is not always what we want. Sometimes we want to execute a script when a page loads, other times when a user triggers an event.

Scripts in the head section: Scripts to be executed when they are called or when an event is triggered go in the head section. When you place a script in the head section you will assure that the script is loaded before anyone uses it: 
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/vbscript">
  some statements
</script>
</head>

Scripts in the body section: Scripts to be executed when the page loads go in the body section. When you place a script in the body section it generates the content of the page: 
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/vbscript">
  some statements
</script>
</body>

Scripts in both the body and the head section: You can place an unlimited number of scripts in your document, so you can have scripts in both the body and the head section. 
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/vbscript">
  some statements
</script>
</head>
<body>
<script type="text/vbscript">
  some statements
</script>
</body>

What is a Variable?

A variable is a "container" for information you want to store. A variable's value can change during the script. You can refer to a variable by name to see its value or to change its value. In VBScript, all variables are of type variant, that can store different types of data. 

Rules for Variable Names:

  • Must begin with a letter 
  • Cannot contain a period (.)
  • Cannot exceed 255 characters

Declaring Variables

You can declare variables with the Dim, Public or the Private statement. Like this: 
  
dim name
name=some value

Now you have created a variable. The name of the variable is "name".

You can also declare variables by using its name in your script. Like this:
  
name=some value

Now you have also created a variable. The name of the variable is "name".

However, the last method is not a good practice, because you can misspell the variable name later in your script, and that can cause strange results when your script is running. This is because when you misspell for example the "name" variable to "nime" the script will automatically create a new variable called "nime".  To prevent your script from doing this you can use the Option Explicit statement. When you use this statement you will have to declare all your variables with the dim, public or private statement. Put the Option Explicit statement on the top of your script. Like this:
  
option explicit
dim name
name=some value

Assigning Values to Variables

You assign a value to a variable like this:
  
name="Kirk"
i=200

The variable name is on the left side of the expression and the value you want to assign to the variable is on the right. Now the variable "name" has the value "Kirk".

Array Variables

Sometimes you want to assign more than one value to a single variable. Then you can create a variable that can contain a series of values. This is called an array variable. The declaration of an array variable uses parentheses ( ) following the variable name. In the following example, an array containing 3 elements is declared:
  
dim names(2)

The number shown in the parentheses is 2. We start at zero so this array contains 3 elements. This is a fixed-size array. You assign data to each of the elements of the array like this:
  
names(0)="Steve"
names(1)="Lisa"
names(2)="Mike"

Similarly, the data can be retrieved from any element using the index of the particular array element you want. Like this:
  
students=names(0)

You can have up to 60 dimensions in an array. Multiple dimensions are declared by separating the numbers in the parentheses with commas. Here we have a two-dimensional array consisting of 5 rows and 7 columns:
  
dim table(4, 6)

 

VBScript Procedures

We have two kinds of procedures: The Sub procedure and the Function procedure.

A Sub procedure:

  • is a series of statements, enclosed by the Sub and End Sub statements
  • can perform actions, but does not return a value
  • can take arguments that are passed to it by a calling procedure
  • without arguments, must include an empty set of parentheses ()
Sub mysub()
 some statements
End Sub
or  
Sub mysub(argument1,argument2)
 some statements
End Sub 

A Function procedure:

  • is a series of statements, enclosed by the Function and End Function statements
  • can perform actions and can return a value
  • can take arguments that are passed to it by a calling procedure
  • without arguments, must include an empty set of parentheses ()
  • returns a value by assigning a value to its name
Function myfunction()
 some statements
 myfunction=some value
End Function
or 
Function myfunction(argument1,argument2)
 some statements
 myfunction=some value
End Function

Call a Sub or Function Procedure

When you call a Function in your code, you do like this:
  
name = findname()

Here you call a Function called "findname", the Function returns a value that will be stored in the variable "name".

Or, you can do like this:
  
msgbox "Your name is " & findname()

Here you also call a Function called "findname", the Function returns a value that will be displayed in the message box.

When you call a Sub procedure you can use the Call statement, like this:
  
Call MyProc(argument)

Or, you can omit the Call statement, like this:
  
MyProc argument

VBScript Conditional Statements

Very often when you write code, you want to perform different actions for different decisions. You can use conditional statements in your code to do this.

In VBScript we have three conditional statements:

  • if...then...else statement - use this statement if you want to select one of two sets of lines to execute
  • if...then...elseif statement - use this statement if you want to select one of many sets of lines to execute
  • select case statement - use this statement if you want to select one of many sets of lines to execute

If....Then.....Else

You should use the If...Then...Else statement if you want to
  • execute some code if a condition is true
  • select one of two blocks of code to execute
If you want to execute only one statement when a condition is true, you can write the code on one line:
  
if i=10 Then msgbox "Hello"

There is no ..else.. in this syntax. You just tell the code to perform one action if the condition is true (in this case if i=10).

If you want to execute more than one statement when a condition is true, you must put each statement on separate lines and end the statement with the keyword "End If":
  
if i=10 Then
   msgbox "Hello"
   i = i+1
end If

There is no ..else.. in this syntax either. You just tell the code to perform multiple actions if the condition is true.

If you want to execute a statement if a condition is true and execute another statement if the condition is not true, you must add the "Else" keyword:
  
if i=10 then
   msgbox "Hello"
else
   msgbox "Goodbye"
end If

The first block of code will be executed if the condition is true, and the other block will be executed otherwise (if i is not equal to 10).

If....Then.....Elseif

You can use the if...then...elseif statement if you want to select one of many blocks of code to execute:
  
if payment="Cash" then
   msgbox "You are going to pay cash!"
 elseif payment="Visa" then
   msgbox "You are going to pay with visa."
 elseif payment="AmEx" then
   msgbox "You are going to pay with American Express."
 else
   msgbox "Unknown method of payment."
end If

Select Case

You can also use the SELECT statement if you want to select one of many blocks of code to execute:
  
select case payment
 case "Cash"
   msgbox "You are going to pay cash"
 case "Visa"
   msgbox "You are going to pay with visa"
 case "AmEx"
   msgbox "You are going to pay with American Express"
 case Else
   msgbox "Unknown method of payment"
end select

This is how it works: First we have a single expression (most often a variable), that is evaluated once. The value of the expression is then compared with the values for each Case in the structure. If there is a match, the block of code associated with that Case is executed.

VBScript Looping Statements

Looping Statements

Very often when you write code, you want to allow the same block of code to run a number of times. You can use looping statements in your code to do this.

In VBScript we have four looping statements:

  • For...Next statement - runs statements a specified number of times. 
  • For Each...Next statement - runs statements for each item in a collection or each element of an array
  • Do...Loop statement - loops while or until a condition is true
  • While...Wend statement - Do not use it - use the Do...Loop statement instead

For...Next

You can use a For...Next statement to run a block of code, when you know how many repetitions you want.

You can use a counter variable that increases or decreases with each repetition of the loop, like this:
  
For i=1 to 10
  some code
Next

The For statement specifies the counter variable (i) and its start and end values. The Next statement increases the counter variable (i) by one.

Step Keyword

Using the Step keyword, you can increase or decrease the counter variable by the value you specify.

In the example below, the counter variable (i) is increased by two each time the loop repeats.
  
For i=2 To 10 Step 2
  some code
Next

To decrease the counter variable, you must use a negative Step value. You must specify an end value that is less than the start value.

In the example below, the counter variable (i) is decreased by two each time the loop repeats.
  
For i=10 To 2 Step -2
  some code
Next

Exit a For...Next

You can exit a For...Next statement with the Exit For keyword.

For Each...Next

A For Each...Next loop repeats a block of code for each item in a collection, or for each element of an array.

The For Each...Next statement looks almost identical to the For...Next statement. The difference is that you do not have to specify the number of items you want to loop through.
  
dim names(2)
names(0)="Steve"
names(1)="Lisa"
names(2)="Mike"

For Each x in names
  document.write(x & "<br />")
Next

Do...Loop

You can use Do...Loop statements to run a block of code when you do not know how many repetitions you want. The block of code is repeated while a condition is true or until a condition becomes true.

Repeating Code While a Condition is True

You use the While keyword to check a condition in a Do...Loop statement.
  
Do While i>10
  some code
Loop

If i equals 9, the code inside the loop above will never be executed.
  
Do
  some code
Loop While i>10

The code inside this loop will be executed at least one time, even if i is less than 10.

Repeating Code Until a Condition Becomes True

You use the Until keyword to check a condition in a Do...Loop statement.
  
Do Until i=10
  some code     
Loop

If i equals 10, the code inside the loop will never be executed.
  
Do
  some code
Loop Until i=10

The code inside this loop will be executed at least one time, even if i is equal to 10.

Exit a Do...Loop

You can exit a Do...Loop statement with the Exit Do keyword.
  
Do Until i=10
  i=i-1
  If i<10 Then Exit Do
Loop

The code inside this loop will be executed as long as i is different from 10, and as long as i is greater than 10.

 

 

 

 

Email: Dr. Kirk P. Arnett, CCP, DBA